15
Concrete batching plants
Construction and Demolition
Natural aggregates
Italy
Gruppo Gatti S.p.A.
Tecnoidea Impianti's solutions for Gruppo Gatti S.p.A.
Closed-loop water management and digitalisation in quarry operations
7
Quarries
4
Demolition-aggregate recovery centres
Gruppo Gatti S.p.A. was founded in the early 1960s in Lograto, in the province of Brescia. Today, the second generation of the family manages activities across the aggregate supply chain, from quarry extraction and concrete production to the recovery of inert construction and demolition waste. The company applies an internal closed-loop approach, with a target of incorporating 20% recycled material alongside natural aggregates.
The project challenges
Concrete wastewater management
Process water from the daily washing of more than 40 concrete mixer trucks at the Berlingo site had to be treated.
Open-loop water management
In the traditional open-loop system, clean water was abstracted and the used water returned to the basins laden with very fine silt, progressively increasing turbidity in the quarry lakes and placing additional demand on the water resource.
Energy costs and regulatory pressure
Continuous operation of the 100 kW water pumps resulted in high energy costs, while regulatory requirements were becoming increasingly demanding.
Tecnoidea's process-engineering approach
Water and sludge treatment
The project began with the installation of a filter press to eliminate continuous use of the water pumps and manage the sludge through filter-press dewatering. Over the following three years, Tecnoidea installed plants at four sites (Berlingo, Orzivecchi, Leno and Poncarale), combining large fixed installations with semi-mobile units housed in custom containerised structures.
Co-engineering
Tecnoidea acted as an engineering partner, handling design and testing, while Gruppo Gatti managed the civil works. Equipment was standardised so that spare parts could be shared across machines and stocked directly at the quarry.
Digitalisation
At the Berlingo site, W-PORTAL, developed with Ma-Estro Srl, was integrated with the plant PLC to provide real-time monitoring of energy consumption and flocculant usage, together with full traceability of the sludge produced, replacing previous empirical estimates.
Results
Lower energy consumption
The new configuration removed the need to run the 100 kW pump continuously.
Recovered-water quality
The treatment process reduces the fine suspended-solids content of the recovered water before it is returned to the cycle.
Transparent relations with the authorities
PLC data enabled the company to document the actual proportion of silt produced with measured figures, supporting clearer exchanges with the regulatory authorities.
Operational continuity
On-site spare-parts availability and direct access to Tecnoidea’s technical staff for after-sales support help reduce downtime risk and support continuity of quarry operations.
“In a quarry, downtime has unsustainable costs. Having a partner that ensures spare parts are available and staff are reachable is the single most important factor. [...] Tecnoidea supported us more as a consultant than as a manufacturer, working side by side with us to design the best solution for our processes. When you venture into a field you don't know, that is what makes the real difference.”
Corrado Gatti, CEO of Gruppo Gatti S.p.A.
The CDW Life project
The closed-loop approach continues at the Berlingo site through the experimental CDW Life project, co-funded by the European Commission and developed in partnership with the University of Brescia. The prototype plant — developed with the University of Brescia and Cavart, and built by the Italian company BSI and Austria’s Binder+Co — uses, among other technologies, AI-guided optical sorters to distinguish heterogeneous materials by colour, including brick and concrete, with the aim of producing certified recycled aggregates for structural concrete. Because dust was interfering with optical recognition, Tecnoidea Impianti Srl carried out laboratory tests on samples taken on site and proposed three solutions with different investment and performance levels. The most comprehensive solution was selected; it also includes a filter press dedicated to dewatering the sludge produced by the wet-screening stage, supporting closed-loop water management and reducing water losses. The project represents an early experimental application of this type of technology to inert demolition waste.